The Stowells in the 1800s

John Stowell was born in Burlington, New Jersey in 1819. He moved his family to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he worked in real estate. He was also Commissioner to the Indians in Grand Rapids.

John Stowell acquired a large Bible July 5, 1847, when his daughter Catherine was about three years old. The Bible is in very good condition despite some age spots and contains family records for several generations. The Bible is in the possession of Jim Winegar.

Stowell Family Bible

John Stowell died in 1888 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Achsah Jones was born in Green Ridge, New Jersey, in 1820. She was the daughter of Abram Jones, a Revolutionary War veteran. In 1830 or 1831, when she was about 10 or 11 years old, she cross-stitched a sampler that was of excellent workmanship. The verse on the sampler is:

By cool Siloam’s shady rill

How sweet the lily grows

How sweet the breath beneath the hill

Of Sharon’s dewey rose.

Achsah Jones

The 179-year-old sampler is stitched with fine thread on linen canvas and has been well-preserved through the years. It is currently in the appreciative care of James Winegar.

Achsah and John had four children: Anna E. (called Annie by the family), Catherine, George W., and Ella V. Ella died when she was only a few months old. Achsah and her daughters were members of the Fountain Street Baptist Church. Achsah died in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1902 and is buried in the Oakhill Cemetery, along with her husband John Stowell.